The Hogwarts Four
by mintythefox
Summary: (Really short story.) Harry saw the group every now and again during his time at Hogwarts. It surprised him how four students from different houses could get along so well. ROTBTD Hogwarts AU


**I don't own any of the characters used in this fic. Actually, if you can recognise anything from a film or book in here, then I don't own it.**

**I have not idea what this is (apart from random and strange).**

* * *

There they were again, crowed around one of the many polished tables in Hogwart's extensive library. Harry Potter could see the group out of the corner of his eye as Hermione and Ron argued over their game of wizard chess. Normally Harry would've been joining in with their argument or trying to calm his friends down, but the sight a few tables away distracted him. It was something the boy had never seen, or even expected to see, in his time at Hogwarts.

Four students gathered around one table, two boys and two girls, laughing and chattering while doing homework (well, two of them were). Each of them were from a separate house. In all truth, Harry didn't quite know why it shocked him so much - the houses working together was a good thing, right? But the sight just seemed so peculiar and alien to him.

Oblivious to the heated debate on his own table, Harry examined the four students. All of them looked about the same age as him so they were likely to be in his year but, oddly enough, Harry didn't recognize them from anywhere around school (which wasn't that difficult when you thought about it, considering this _was _Hogwarts). The one from Gryffindor (Harry could see her tie) was a girl with wild, red hair that bounced everywhere as she talked to one of the boys. Harry couldn't much of what she was saying from his position across the room but he was pretty sure that she had a scottish accent. In comparison, the boy she spoke to had short white hair (yes, _white, _Aunt Petunia would've had a fit) and Harry could only see the back of his head. The green and silver scarf around his neck gave him away as Slytherin. The third person Harry noticed was the other girl. She had amazingly long golden hair that was tied back in a complicated plait. In true Ravenclaw style, she was bent over her books, just like the Huffelpuff boy next to her. Harry saw that he had brow hair and a peculiar black creature that looked almost like a dragon perched on his shoulder while he worked.

Neither Hermione or Ron noticed the group as they made their way up to Gryffindor's dormitory about an hour later, although Harry kept a lookout for the crazy-haired girl.

He didn't see her.

* * *

Once Harry had spotted their gang once, he kept noticing the individuals again in each of his classes and, very occasionally, in the mornings during breakfast. He didn't spot them all together again until about a week and a half later.

They were all sprawled out in the shade of a tree near the lake (well, the Slytherin boy was actually sat in the tree and the blonde girl was dangling out of it _by her hair_), talking, and watching the giant squid splash water at unsuspecting first years. The redhead was laughing at the pair in the tree, while the boy sat underneath sketched them in his notebook.

Harry only saw them for a couple of seconds before Hermione found him with a ton of books clasped under her arm and asked if he'd done Snape's homework yet (he hadn't).

* * *

They were at quidditch matches too. Or half of them were, at least. The Gryffindor girl was actually in his team (Harry was seriously confused as to how he'd never noticed her before). Her name was Merida and she played Chaser. Apparently she was quite good at archery too.

The new Slytherin Seeker was her white-haired friend who'd been sat in the tree. According to Hermione, who, for some reason, kept track of the teams, his name was Jackson Frost.

During some of the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin games, Harry noticed that they both seemed very competitive.

* * *

The last time Harry Potter saw the four was at the Christmas banquet the next year. Somehow, they'd managed to all slip onto the Huffelpuff table unnoticed.

None of them came back after Christmas.

* * *

Laughter.

Harry Potter rose from his bed, frowning as he reached for his glasses. Who was making that sound so late at night?

He grabbed the invisibility cloak from where he'd slung it over a chair and ventured out of his dormitory.

The laughter sounded again. Bouncing off the walls and echoing in Harry's ears.

He followed it. Twisting and turning through the dark, abandoned corridors until he found its source.

Four spirits. Laughing and joking together. Just like every other time Harry had seen them.

He wanted to ask what had happened to them.

He wanted to finally speak to the group.

He wanted to... but he didn't.

The girl who used to be in Ravenclaw gave him a smile before she disappeared with the rest of them.

Harry Potter never saw the group again after that.

But he still remembers them, the Hogwarts Four, the students who were from different houses but still managed to work together.

Even in death.


End file.
